Central Asia news

Tajikistan: The number of divorces and lone parents is growing in concern with polygamy

According to the results of the preliminary research, ran by the Center of strategic research under the president of Tajikistan, the polygamy is getting popular in the republic. Today, about 10% of men have more than one wife. The head of social issues department Firuz Saidov informed Ferghana.Ru that "the preliminary results indicate that many men in Tajikistan have two and three wives".

The polygamy is legally banned in Tajikistan. Therefore, Firuz Saidov says, "during the interview many women preferred not to indicate her status among the number of wives".

According to the expert that paradox is that there are many cases in Tajikistan when single fathers take care of their children.

Some local experts note that the major reason of increasing popularity of polygamy in Tajikistan is the deterioration of economic conditions, especially, for women. In 1990s the polygamy was reasoned by the consequences of the civil war, resulting in the death of 100 000 men. Today, the critical factor is labor migration. More and more young Tajik guys migrate to Russia and get married there. As a result, many young girls have to become second and third wives.

Firuz Saidov says the kids from second and third wives face big problems. In case of divorce or death of such unofficial "spouse" the wives and their children can not claim the share of heritage. He is affirmed the issue can be resolved through "marriage contract" that is step by step being adopted in Tajikistan as well. Meanwhile, the Tajik historians proved "marriage contract" existed in Tajikistan 2000 years ago.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Tajik clergy note that Islam provides enough rights for women and there is no need for additional "marriage contract".

On the other hand, according to Barno Nasimova, the head of Civil Registry Office in Dushanbe, in the last seven years she witnessed 5 cases of signing "the marriage contract". She also added that representatives of her office offer all newly weds sign such contract while most of young couples reject the offer.

The growth of divorces is another concern for the Tajik government. The Justice Ministry reports that in the last 5 years the number of divorces doubled in the republic. Perhaps, the President’s decree on raising the marriage age limit to 18 was reasoned by the increasing number of divorces in Tajik families. Earlier, girls could officially get married at 17 and 16.